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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="covid-19-sentry">Covid-19 Sentry</h1>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="#from-preprints">From Preprints</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-clinical-trials">From Clinical Trials</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-pubmed">From PubMed</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-patent-search">From Patent Search</a></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-preprints">From Preprints</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>Innate lymphoid cells and disease tolerance in SARS-CoV-2 infection</strong> -
<div>
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Risk of severe COVID-19 increases with age, is greater in males, and is associated with lymphopenia, but not with higher burden of SARS-CoV-2. It is unknown whether effects of age and sex on abundance of specific lymphoid subsets explain these correlations. This study found that the abundance of ILCs decreases more than 7-fold over the human lifespan and is lower in males than in females. After accounting for age and sex, innate lymphoid cells (ILCs), but not T cells, were lower in adults hospitalized with COVID-19, independent of lymphopenia. Among SARS-CoV-2-infected adults, ILC abundance correlated inversely with odds and duration of hospitalization, and with severity of inflammation. ILCs were also uniquely decreased in pediatric COVID-19 and did not recover during follow-up. In contrast, individuals with MIS-C had depletion of both ILCs and T cells, and both cell types increased during follow-up. In both pediatric COVID-19 and MIS-C, ILC abundance correlated inversely with inflammation. Blood ILC mRNA and phenotype tracked more closely with ILCs from lung than from other organs. Importantly, blood ILCs produced amphiregulin, a protein implicated in disease tolerance and tissue homeostasis, and the percentage of amphiregulin-producing ILCs was higher in females. These results suggest that, by promoting disease tolerance, homeostatic ILCs decrease morbidity and mortality associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection, and that lower ILC abundance accounts for increased COVID-19 severity with age and in males.
</p>
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<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.01.14.21249839v2" target="_blank">Innate lymphoid cells and disease tolerance in SARS-CoV-2 infection</a>
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<li><strong>Time scale performance of rapid antigen testing for SARS-COV-2: evaluation of ten rapid antigen assays</strong> -
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Abstract There is a great demand for more rapid tests for SARS-COV-2 detection to reduce waiting time, boost public health strategies for combating disease, decrease costs, and prevent overwhelming laboratory capacities. This study was conducted to assess the performance of 10 lateral flow device viral antigen immunoassays for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in nasopharyngeal swab specimens. We analyzed 231 nasopharyngeal samples collected from October 2020-December 2020, from suspected COVID-19 cases and contacts of positive cases at Biotechnology Research Center laboratories, Tripoli, Libya. The performance of 10 COVID-19 Antigen (Ag) rapid test devices for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 antigen was compared to RT-qPCR. In this study 161 cases had symptoms consistent with COVID-19. The mean duration from symptom onset was 6.6 days. The median cycle threshold (Ct) of positive samples was 25. Among the 108 positive samples detected by RT-qPCR, the COVID-19 antigen (Ag) tests detected 83 cases correctly. All rapid Ag test devices used in this study showed 100% specificity. While tests from 6 manufacturers had an overall sensitivity range from 75-100%, the remaining 4 tests had sensitivity of 50-71.43%. Sensitivity during the first 6 days of symptoms and in samples with high viral loads (Ct&lt;25), was 100% in all but 2 of the test platforms. False negative samples had a median Ct of 34 and an average duration of onset of symptoms of 11.3 days (range=5-20 days). Antigen test diagnosis has high sensitivity and specificity in early disease when patients present less than 7 days of symptom onset. Patients are encouraged to test as soon as they get COVID-19 related symptoms within 1 week and to seek medical advice within 24 hrs. if they develop disturbed smell/taste. The use of rapid antigen tests is important for controlling COVID-19 pandemic and reducing burden on molecular diagnostic laboratories. Keywords: Rapid antigen tests, SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 diagnosis, Surveillance
</p>
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.05.27.21257868v2" target="_blank">Time scale performance of rapid antigen testing for SARS-COV-2: evaluation of ten rapid antigen assays</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK: a secondary data analysis</strong> -
<div>
Introduction: In March 2020 in response to the COVID pandemic the UK government declared a national lockdown where citizens were required to stay at home. The impact of this lockdown on levels of well-being has been a source of concern for citizens and mental health professionals. Objectives: We investigated the trajectory of well-being over the course of the ?first wave and sought to determine whether the change in well-being is distributed equally across the population. Speci?fically we investigated pre-existing medical conditions, social isolation, ?financial stress and deprivation as a predictor for well-being and whether there were community level characteristics which protect against poorer well-being. Methods: Using online survey responses from the COVID19 modules of Understanding society, we linked 8,379 English cases across ?five waves of data collection to location based deprivation statistics. We used ordinary least squares regression to estimate the association between deprivation, pre-existing conditions and socio-demographic factors and the change in well-being scores over time, as measured by the GHQ-12 questionnaire. Results: A decline in well-being was observed at the beginning of the fi?rst lock down period at the beginning of March 2020. This was matched with a corresponding recovery between April and July as restrictions were gradually lifted. There was no association between the decline and deprivation, nor between deprivation and recovery. The strongest predictor of well-being during the lockdown, was the baseline score, with the counterintuitive finding that for those will pre-existing poor well-being, the impact of pandemic restrictions on mental health were minimal, but for those who had previously felt well, the restrictions and the impact of the pandemic on well-being were much greater. Conclusion: These data show no evidence of a social gradient in well-being related to the pandemic. In fact, wellbeing was shown to be highly elastic in this period indicating a national level of resilience which cut across the usually observed health inequalities.
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<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/pv4qs/" target="_blank">Wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK: a secondary data analysis</a>
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<li><strong>Characterizing parametric differences between the two waves of COVID-19 in India</strong> -
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The first case of COVID-19 in India was reported on January 30, 2020 [1]. The number of infections rose steeply and preventative measures such as lockdowns were implemented to slow down the spread of the disease. Infections peaked around mid-September the same year and the cases gradually started declining. Following the relaxation of lockdown and the appearance of mutant strains of the virus, a much severe second wave of COVID-19 emerged starting mid-February. For characterization and comparison of both the waves, a SIQR (Susceptible-Infected-Quarantined-Removed) model is used in this paper. The results indicate that a single patient can infect approximately 2.44 individuals in the population. The epidemic doubling time was calculated to be 11.8 days. It is predicted that the actual number of infected patients is grossly underestimated (by a factor of 16) by current testing methods.
</p>
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.06.29.21259698v1" target="_blank">Characterizing parametric differences between the two waves of COVID-19 in India</a>
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<li><strong>Predictors of Depression and Anxiety Symptoms in Brazil during COVID-19</strong> -
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The COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil is extremely severe, and Brazil has the third-highest number of cases in the world. The goal of the study is to identify the prevalence rates and several predictors of depression and anxiety in Brazil during the initial outbreak of COVID-19. We surveyed 482 adults in 23 Brazilian states online on 9-22 May 2020, and found 70.3% of the adults (N=339) had depressive symptoms and 67.2% (N=320) had anxiety symptoms. The results of multi-class logistic regression models revealed that females, younger adults and those with fewer children had a higher likelihood of depression and anxiety symptoms; adults who worked as employees were more likely to have anxiety symptoms than those who were self-employed or unemployed; adults who spent more time browsing COVID-19 information online were more likely to have depression and anxiety symptoms. Our results provide preliminary evidence and early warning for psychiatrists and healthcare organizations to better identify and focus on the more vulnerable sub-populations in Brazil during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Keywords: COVID-19; Brazil; anxiety; depression; predictors; risk factors
</p>
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<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.06.28.21259409v1" target="_blank">Predictors of Depression and Anxiety Symptoms in Brazil during COVID-19</a>
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<li><strong>Effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines against variants of concern, Canada</strong> -
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Objectives: To estimate the effectiveness of BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech), mRNA-1273 (Moderna), and ChAdOx1 (AstraZeneca) vaccines against symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection and severe outcomes (COVID-19 hospitalization or death) caused by the Alpha (B.1.1.7), Beta (B.1.351), Gamma (P.1), and Delta (B.1.617.2) variants of concern (VOCs) during December 2020 to May 2021. Methods: We conducted a test-negative design study using linked population-wide vaccination, laboratory testing, and health administrative databases in Ontario, Canada. Results: Against symptomatic infection caused by Alpha, vaccine effectiveness with partial vaccination (≥14 days after dose 1) was higher for mRNA-1273 than BNT162b2 and ChAdOx1. Full vaccination (≥7 days after dose 2) increased vaccine effectiveness for BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273 against Alpha. Protection against symptomatic infection caused by Beta/Gamma was lower with partial vaccination for ChAdOx1 than mRNA-1273. Against Delta, vaccine effectiveness after partial vaccination tended to be lower than against Alpha for BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273, but was similar to Alpha for ChAdOx1. Full vaccination with BNT162b2 increased protection against Delta to levels comparable to Alpha and Beta/Gamma. Vaccine effectiveness against hospitalization or death caused by all studied VOCs was generally higher than for symptomatic infection after partial vaccination with all three vaccines. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that even a single dose of these 3 vaccine products provide good to excellent protection against symptomatic infection and severe outcomes caused by the 4 currently circulating variants of concern, and that 2 doses are likely to provide even higher protection.
</p>
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.06.28.21259420v1" target="_blank">Effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines against variants of concern, Canada</a>
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<li><strong>Tracing and testing multiple generations of contacts to COVID-19 cases: cost-benefit tradeoffs</strong> -
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Traditional contact tracing for COVID-19 tests the direct contacts of those who test positive even if the contacts do not show any symptom. But, by the time an infected individual is tested, the infection starting from the person may have infected a chain of individuals. Hence, why should the testing stop at direct contacts, and not test secondary, tertiary contacts or even contacts further down? One deterrent in testing long chains of individuals right away may be that it substantially increases the testing load, or does it? We investigate the costs and benefits of such multi-hop contact tracing for different number of hops. Considering a large number of contact topologies, spanning synthetic networks of divergent characteristics and those constructed from recorded interactions, we show that the cost-benefit tradeoff can be characterized in terms of a single measurable attribute, the initial epidemic growth rate. Once this growth rate crosses a threshold, multi-hop contact tracing substantially reduces the outbreak size compared to traditional contact tracing. Multi-hop even incurs a lower cost compared to the traditional contact tracing for a large range of values of the growth rate. The cost-benefit tradeoffs and the choice of the number of hops can be classified into three phases, with sharp transitions between them, depending on the value of the growth rate. The need for choosing a larger number of hops becomes greater as the growth rate increases or the environment becomes less conducive toward containing the disease.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.06.29.21259723v1" target="_blank">Tracing and testing multiple generations of contacts to COVID-19 cases: cost-benefit tradeoffs</a>
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<li><strong>RT-LAMP has high accuracy for detecting SARS-CoV-2 in saliva and naso/oropharyngeal swabs from asymptomatic and symptomatic individuals</strong> -
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Previous studies have described RT-LAMP methodology for the rapid detection of SARS-CoV-2 in nasopharyngeal/oropharyngeal swab and saliva samples. Here we describe the validation of an improved simple sample preparation method for Direct SARS-CoV-2 RT-LAMP, removing the need for RNA extraction, using 559 swabs and 86,760 saliva samples from asymptomatic and symptomatic individuals across multiple healthcare settings. Using this improved method we report a diagnostic sensitivity (DSe) of 70.35% (95% CI 63.48-76.60%) on swabs and 84.62% (79.50-88.88%) on saliva, with diagnostic specificity (DSp) 100% (98.98-100.00%) on swabs and 100% (99.72-100.00%) on saliva when compared to RT-qPCR. Analysing samples with RT-qPCR ORF1ab CT values of &lt;25 and &lt;33 (high and medium-high viral loads, respectively), we found DSe of 100% (96.34-100%) and 77.78% (70.99-83.62%) for swabs, and 99.01% (94.61-99.97%) and 87.32% (80.71-92.31%) for saliva. We also describe RNA RT-LAMP (on extracted RNA) performed on 12,619 swabs and 12,521 saliva samples to provide updated performance data with DSe and DSp of 95.98% (92.74-98.06%) and 99.99% (99.95-100%) for swabs, and 80.65% (73.54-86.54%) and 99.99% (99.95-100%) for saliva, respectively. We also report on daily samples collected from one individual from symptom onset where both Direct and RNA RT-LAMP detected SARS-CoV-2 in saliva collected on all six days where symptoms were recorded, with RNA RT-LAMP detecting SARS-CoV-2 for an additional further day. The findings from these studies demonstrate that RT-LAMP testing of swabs and saliva is potentially applicable to a variety of use-cases, including frequent, interval-based testing of saliva from asymptomatic individuals via Direct RT-LAMP that may be missed using symptomatic testing alone.
</p>
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<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.06.28.21259398v1" target="_blank">RT-LAMP has high accuracy for detecting SARS-CoV-2 in saliva and naso/oropharyngeal swabs from asymptomatic and symptomatic individuals</a>
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<li><strong>An increased ratio of SARS-CoV-2 positive to negative sense genomic and subgenomic RNAs within routine diagnostic upper respiratory tract swabs may be a marker of virion shedding</strong> -
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Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has spread rapidly in the global population since its emergence in humans in late 2019. Replication of SARS-CoV-2 is characterised by transcription and replication of genomic length RNA and shorter subgenomic RNAs to produce virus proteins and ultimately progeny virions. Here we explore the pattern of both genome-length and subgenomic RNAs and positive and negative strand SARS-CoV-2 RNAs in diagnostic nasopharyngeal swabs using sensitive probe based PCR assays as well as Ampliseq panels designed to target subgenomic RNAs. Using these assays, we measured the ratios of genomic to subgenomic RNAs as well as the ratios of positive to negative strand RNAs in SARS-CoV-2 positive nasopharyngeal swab samples. We found that while subgenomic RNAs and negative strand RNA can be readily detected in swab samples taken up to 19 and 17 days post symptom onset respectively, and therefore their detection alone is not likely an indicator of active SARS-CoV-2 replication. However, the ratios of genomic-length to subgenomic RNA and also of positive to negative strand RNA were elevated in some swabs, particularly those collected around the onset of clinical symptoms or in an individual with decreasing PCR Cts in successive swab samples. We tentatively conclude that it may be possible to refine such molecular assays to help determine if active replication of virus is occurring and progeny virions likely present in a SARS-CoV-2 positive individual. Assays targeting subgenomic N or ORF7a RNAs as well as strand specific ORF7a total genome-length and subgenomic RNAs may be the most sensitive for this purpose as these targets were consistently the most abundant in the swab samples.
</p>
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.06.29.21259511v1" target="_blank">An increased ratio of SARS-CoV-2 positive to negative sense genomic and subgenomic RNAs within routine diagnostic upper respiratory tract swabs may be a marker of virion shedding</a>
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<li><strong>PERFORMANCE AND UTILITY OF AN ORAL FLUID-BASED RAPID POINT-OF-CARE TEST FOR SARS-COV-2 ANTIBODY RESPONSE FOLLOWING COVID-19 INFECTION OR VACCINATION</strong> -
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Analysis of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies can identify recent-onset or prior COVID-19 infection or vaccine-induced humoral immunity. We have developed a rapid point-of-care test for IgG, M, or A-class immunoglobulins that recognize the S1 domain of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein (CovAb™). The test employs a lateral-flow strip design with a recombinant SARS-CoV-2 spike protein S1 domain capture antigen to detect anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in oral fluid samples. Oral fluid samples are collected with a swab that captures the gingival crevicular fluid component of oral fluid that represents a plasma transudate and that is the primary source of oral fluid monomeric antibodies. The sensitivity of the CovAb™ test is 97.29% and the specificity is 98.13%, and the results obtained are similar to those obtained using matched fingerstick whole blood samples and in an EUA-approved commercial serology test. Oral fluid SARS-CoV-2 antibodies could be detected in subjects more than 7 months post-symptom onset. We also demonstrate the utility of the CovAb™ test in characterizing adaptive immune responses to vaccination in COVID-19-naive and exposed populations after first and second vaccine doses and show that significant heterogeneity in magnitude of antibody titers achieved is seen after both doses and that prior COVID-19 exposure increases the adaptive immune response to vaccination.
</p>
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<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.06.28.21259657v1" target="_blank">PERFORMANCE AND UTILITY OF AN ORAL FLUID-BASED RAPID POINT-OF-CARE TEST FOR SARS-COV-2 ANTIBODY RESPONSE FOLLOWING COVID-19 INFECTION OR VACCINATION</a>
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<li><strong>Persistent symptoms following SARS-CoV-2 infection in a random community sample of 508,707 people</strong> -
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Introduction Long COVID, describing the long-term sequelae after SARS-CoV-2 infection, remains a poorly defined syndrome. There is uncertainty about its predisposing factors and the extent of the resultant public health burden, with estimates of prevalence and duration varying widely. Methods Within rounds 3-5 of the REACT-2 study, 508,707 people in the community in England were asked about a prior history of COVID-19 and the presence and duration of 29 different symptoms. We used uni- and multivariable models to identify predictors of persistence of symptoms (12 weeks or more). We estimated the prevalence of symptom persistence at 12 weeks, and used unsupervised learning to cluster individuals by symptoms experienced. Results Among the 508,707 participants, the weighted prevalence of self-reported COVID-19 was 19.2% (95% CI: 19.1,19.3). 37.7% of 76,155 symptomatic people post COVID-19 experienced at least one symptom, while 14.8% experienced three or more symptoms, lasting 12 weeks or more. This gives a weighted population prevalence of persistent symptoms of 5.75% (5.68, 5.81) for one and 2.22% (2.1, 2.26) for three or more symptoms. Almost a third of people 8,771/28,713 (30.5%) with at least one symptom lasting 12 weeks or more reported having had severe COVID-19 symptoms (9significant effect on my daily life9) at the time of their illness, giving a weighted prevalence overall for this group of 1.72% (1.69,1.76). The prevalence of persistent symptoms was higher in women than men (OR: 1.51 [1.46,1.55]) and, conditional on reporting symptoms, risk of persistent symptoms increased linearly with age by 3.5 percentage points per decade of life. Obesity, smoking or vaping, hospitalisation , and deprivation were also associated with a higher probability of persistent symptoms, while Asian ethnicity was associated with a lower probability. Two stable clusters were identified based on symptoms that persisted for 12 weeks or more: in the largest cluster, tiredness predominated, while in the second there was a high prevalence of respiratory and related symptoms. Interpretation A substantial proportion of people with symptomatic COVID-19 go on to have persistent symptoms for 12 weeks or more, which is age-dependent. Clinicians need to be aware of the differing manifestations of Long COVID which may require tailored therapeutic approaches. Managing the long-term sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the population will remain a major challenge for health services in the next stage of the pandemic.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.06.28.21259452v1" target="_blank">Persistent symptoms following SARS-CoV-2 infection in a random community sample of 508,707 people</a>
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<li><strong>BNT162b2 mRNA Vaccine Effectiveness Given Confirmed Exposure; Analysis of Household Members of COVID-19 Patients</strong> -
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Importance While the mRNA BNT162b2 vaccine effectiveness was demonstrated in general population, the question of effectiveness given confirmed exposure has yet been answered, though it has policy implications, as the need for self-quarantine when exposed and protective measures for vaccinated in high-risk areas. Objective Assessing the BNT162b2 vaccine effectiveness in preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection given high-risk exposure, through analysis of household members of confirmed cases. Design Retrospective cohort study. Data of household members of confirmed SARS-CoV-2 cases between 20/12/2020 and 17/03/2021 were collected. Setting Nationally centralized database of Maccabi Healthcare Services (MHS), the second largest Healthcare Maintenance Organization in Israel. Participants 2.5 million MHS members were considered, of which we included only households with two adult members, given possible lower transmission and susceptibility among children. Households with no prior confirmed infections and a confirmed index case during the study period were included. Exposure Participants were classified into three vaccination groups in time of the index case (the confirmed exposure)- Unvaccinated; Fully Vaccinated(7 or more days post second dose) and a reference control group of Recently Vaccinated Once(0-7 days from the first dose, presumably still unprotected). Main Outcomes and Measures Assessing the probability of an additional SARS-CoV-2 infection in the household occurring within 10 days of an index case, calculated separately for the three vaccination groups. Main outcome was vaccine effectiveness given confirmed exposure. High testing rates among household members enabled us to estimate with a high degree of confidence effectiveness against asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection as well. Results A total of 173,569 households were included, out of which 6,351 households had an index infection (mean [SD] age, 58.9 [13.5] years; 50% were women). Vaccine effectiveness of Fully Vaccinated compared to Unvaccinated participants was 80.0% [95% CI, 73.0-85.1] and 82.0% [95% CI, 75.5-86.7] compared to those Recently Vaccinated Once. Conclusion and Relevance The BNT162b2 vaccine is effective in a high-risk, real life, exposure scenario, but the protection rates afforded in these settings are lower than those previously described. Household members of COVID-19 patients and any individual with a confirmed exposure to COVID-19 are still at a considerable risk of being infected even if fully vaccinated.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.06.29.21259579v1" target="_blank">BNT162b2 mRNA Vaccine Effectiveness Given Confirmed Exposure; Analysis of Household Members of COVID-19 Patients</a>
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<li><strong>Neuropsychiatric disorders as risk factors and consequences of COVID-19: A Mendelian randomization study</strong> -
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Background More than 170 million cases of COVID-19 have been reported worldwide. It has been proposed that psychiatric disorders may be risk factors and/or consequences of COVID-19 infection. However, observational studies could be affected by confounding bias. Methods We performed bi-directional two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis to evaluate causal relationships between liability to COVID-19 (and severe/critical infection) and a wide range of neuropsychiatric disorders or traits. We employed the latest GWAS summary statistics from the COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative. A variety of MR methods including those accounting for horizontal pleiotropy were used. Results Overall we observed evidence that liability to COVID-19 or severe infection may be causally associated with higher risks of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), bipolar disorder (BD) (especially BD II), schizophrenia (SCZ), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and suicidal thought (ST) when compared to the general population. On the other hand, liability to a few psychiatric traits/disorders, for example ADHD, alcohol and opioid use disorders may be causally associated with higher risks of COVID-19 infection or severe disease. In genetic correlation analysis, cannabis use disorder, ADHD, and anxiety showed significant and positive genetic correlation with critical or hospitalized infection. All the above findings passed multiple testing correction at a false discovery rate (FDR)&lt;0.05. For pneumonia, in general we observed a different pattern of associations, with bi-directional positive associations with depression- and anxiety-related phenotypes. Conclusions In summary, this study provides evidence for tentative bi-directional causal associations between liability to COVID-19 (and severe infection) and a number of neuropsychiatric disorders. Further replications and prospective studies are required to verify the findings.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.06.29.21259609v1" target="_blank">Neuropsychiatric disorders as risk factors and consequences of COVID-19: A Mendelian randomization study</a>
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<li><strong>The Emergence of SARS-CoV-2 Variant Lambda (C.37) in South America</strong> -
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We report the emergence of a novel lineage of SARS-CoV-2 in South America, termed C.37. It presents a deletion in the ORF1a gene (Δ3675-3677), also found in variants of concern (VOCs) Alpha, Beta, and Gamma, and seven non-synonymous mutations in the Spike gene (Δ247-253, G75V, T76I, L452Q, F490S, T859N). Initially reported in Lima, Peru, in late December 2020, it now accounts for almost 100% of Peruvian genomes in April 2021. It is expanding in Chile and Argentina, and there is evidence of onward transmission in Colombia, Mexico, the USA, Germany, and Israel. On June 15, 2021, the World Health Organization designated C.37 as Variant of Interest (VOI) Lambda.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.06.26.21259487v1" target="_blank">The Emergence of SARS-CoV-2 Variant Lambda (C.37) in South America</a>
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<li><strong>The drop in reported invasive pneumococcal disease among adults during the first COVID-19 wave in the Netherlands explained.</strong> -
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Streptococcus pneumoniae is the main bacterial pathogen causing respiratory infections. Since the COVID-19 pandemic emerged, less pneumococcal disease was identified by surveillance systems around the world. Measures to prevent transmission of SARS-CoV-2 also reduce transmission of pneumococci, but this would gradually lead to lower disease rates. Here, we explore additional factors that have contributed to the instant drop in pneumococcal disease cases captured in surveillance. Our observations on referral practices and other impediments to diagnostic testing indicate that residual IPD has likely occurred but remained undetected by conventional hospital-based surveillance. Depending on setting, we discuss alternative monitoring strategies that could improve sight on pneumococcal disease dynamics.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.06.29.21259494v1" target="_blank">The drop in reported invasive pneumococcal disease among adults during the first COVID-19 wave in the Netherlands explained.</a>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-clinical-trials">From Clinical Trials</h1>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Cognitive and Psychological Disorders After Severe COVID-19 Infection</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID 19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Diagnostic Test: Cognitive assessment;   Diagnostic Test: Imaging;   Diagnostic Test: Routine care;   Other: Psychiatric evaluation<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Central Hospital, Nancy, France;   Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Besancon;   University Hospital, Strasbourg, France;   Centre Hospitalier Régional Metz-Thionville;   Centre hospitalier Epinal;   Hopitaux Civils de Colmar<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Phase 1 Study to Assess Safety, Tolerability, PD, PK, Immunogenicity of IV NTR-441 Solution in Healthy Volunteers and COVID-19 Patients</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: NTR-441;   Drug: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Neutrolis<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>MP1032 Treatment in Patients With Moderate to Severe COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: MP1032;   Drug: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   MetrioPharm AG;   Syneos Health, LLC<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Study to Evaluate the Safety and Concentrations of Monoclonal Antibody Against Virus That Causes COVID-19 Disease.</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19 Virus Disease<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: MAD0004J08;   Other: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Toscana Life Sciences Sviluppo s.r.l.;   Cross Research S.A.<br/><b>Active, not recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Safety and Immunogenicity of LNP-nCOV saRNA-02 Vaccine Against SARS-CoV-2, the Causative Agent of COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Drug: LNP-nCOV saRNA-02 Vaccine<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   MRC/UVRI and LSHTM Uganda Research Unit<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Efficacy of Inhaled Therapies in the Treatment of Acute Symptoms Associated With COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: inhaled beclametasone;   Drug: Inahaled beclomethasone / formoterol / glycopyrronium<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   UPECLIN HC FM Botucatu Unesp;   Chiesi Farmaceutici S.p.A.<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Dapsone Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 Trial (DAP-CORONA) COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: Dapsone 85 mg PO BID;   Drug: Placebo 85 mg PO BID<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   McGill University Health Centre/Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre;   Pulmonem Inc.<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Covid-19 Patients Management During Home Isolation</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Procedure: Oxygen therapy and physical therapy;   Device: Oxygen therapy<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Cairo University<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Ivermectin Versus Standard Treatment in Mild COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Drug: Ivermectin Tablets<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Assiut University<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>SCALE-UP Utah: Community-Academic Partnership to Address COVID-19 Testing Among Utah Community Health Centers</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Behavioral: Text-Messaging (TM);   Behavioral: Patient Navigation (PN)<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   University of Utah;   Association for Utah Community Health;   Utah Department of Health;   National Institutes of Health (NIH)<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>SCALE-UP Utah: Community-Academic Partnership to Address COVID-19 Vaccination Rates Among Utah Community Health Centers</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Behavioral: Text-Messaging (TM);   Behavioral: Patient Navigation (PN)<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   University of Utah;   Association for Utah Community Health;   Utah Department of Health;   National Institutes of Health (NIH)<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Chinese Herbal Formula for COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: mQFPD;   Drug: organic brown rice<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   University of California, San Diego<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Remdesivir- Ivermectin Combination Therapy in Severe Covid-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Drug: Ivermectin<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Assiut University<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>IRAK 4 Inhibitor (PF-06650833) in Hospitalized Patients With COVID-19 Pneumonia and Exuberant Inflammation.</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19 Pneumonia<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: PF-06650833;   Drug: Matching Placebo<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Giovanni Franchin, M.D, Ph.D;   Pfizer<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Role of Chlorhexidine in Minimizing the Viral Load Among COVID-19 Patients</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Drug: Chlorhexidine digluconate, povidone iodine<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   King Abdulaziz University<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-pubmed">From PubMed</h1>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Protection of K18-hACE2 mice and ferrets against SARS-CoV-2 challenge by a single-dose mucosal immunization with a parainfluenza virus 5-based COVID-19 vaccine</strong> - Transmission-blocking vaccines are urgently needed to reduce transmission of SARS-CoV 2, the cause of the COVID-19 pandemic. The upper respiratory tract is an initial site of SARS-CoV-2 infection and, for many individuals, remains the primary site of virus replication. An ideal COVID-19 vaccine should reduce upper respiratory tract virus replication and block transmission as well as protect against severe disease. Here, we optimized a vaccine candidate, parainfluenza virus 5 (PIV5) expressing…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Small Molecule Therapeutics to Destabilize the ACE2-RBD Complex: a Molecular Dynamics Study</strong> - The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has infected millions of people, claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, and made a worldwide health emergency. Understanding the SARS-CoV-2 mechanism of infection is crucial in the development of potential therapeutics and vaccines. The infection process is triggered by direct binding of the SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain (RBD) to the host cell receptor, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). Many efforts have been made to design or repurpose therapeutics to…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Famotidine inhibits Toll-like receptor 3-mediated inflammatory signaling in SARS-CoV2 infection</strong> - Apart from prevention using vaccinations, the management options for COVID-19 remain limited. In retrospective cohort studies, use of famotidine, a specific oral H2 receptor antagonist (antihistamine), has been associated with reduced risk of intubation and death in patients hospitalized with COVID-19. In a case series, non-hospitalized patients with COVID-19 experienced rapid symptom resolution after taking famotidine, but the molecular basis of these observations remains elusive. Here we show…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Phyllanthin and hypophyllanthin, the isolated compounds of Phyllanthus niruri inhibit protein receptor of corona virus (COVID-19) through in silico approach</strong> - CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, phyllanthin and hypophyllanthin are predicted to have strong activity against COVID-19 through inhibiting spike glycoprotein and main protease under in silico study. Further research is needed to support the development of P. niruri as inhibitor agents of COVID-19 through bioassay studies.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Structure-Guided Design of Conformationally Constrained Cyclohexane Inhibitors of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 3CL Protease</strong> - A series of nondeuterated and deuterated dipeptidyl aldehyde and masked aldehyde inhibitors that incorporate in their structure a conformationally constrained cyclohexane moiety was synthesized and found to potently inhibit severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 3CL protease in biochemical and cell-based assays. Several of the inhibitors were also found to be nanomolar inhibitors of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus 3CL protease. The corresponding latent aldehyde bisulfite…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Macrolactin A as a Novel Inhibitory Agent for SARS-CoV-2 M(pro): Bioinformatics Approach</strong> - COVID-19 is a disease that puts most of the world on lockdown and the search for therapeutic drugs is still ongoing. Therefore, this study used in silico screening to identify natural bioactive compounds from fruits, herbaceous plants, and marine invertebrates that are able to inhibit protease activity in SARS-CoV-2 (PDB: 6LU7). We have used extensive screening strategies such as drug likeliness, antiviral activity value prediction, molecular docking, ADME, molecular dynamics (MD) simulation,…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Prognostic Role of Neutrophil to Lymphocyte Ratio in COVID-19 Patients: Still Valid in Patients That Had Started Therapy?</strong> - COVID-19 may appear with a widely heterogeneous clinical expression. Thus, predictive markers of the outcome/progression are of paramount relevance. The neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) has been suggested as a good predictive marker of disease severity and mortality. Accordingly, we found that NLR significantly increased in parallel with the WHO severity stage in COVID-19 patients during the I^(st) wave (March-May 2020; n = 49), due to the significant reduction of lymphocyte and the significant…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Investigation of a Model-Based Working Memory Training With and Without Distractor Inhibition and Its Comparative Efficacy: A Randomized Controlled Trial on Healthy Old Adults</strong> - Background: Various working memory (WM) trainings have been tested, but differences in experimental designs, the lack of theoretical background, and the need of identifying task-related processes such as filtering efficiency limit conclusions about their comparative efficacy. Objectives: In this study, we compared the efficacy of a model-based WM training with (MB^(+)) and without (MB) distractor inhibition on improving WM capacity to a dual n-back and active control condition. Methods: This…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The RNA sensor MDA5 detects SARS-CoV-2 infection</strong> - Human cells respond to infection by SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, by producing cytokines including type I and III interferons (IFNs) and proinflammatory factors such as IL6 and TNF. IFNs can limit SARS-CoV-2 replication but cytokine imbalance contributes to severe COVID-19. We studied how cells detect SARS-CoV-2 infection. We report that the cytosolic RNA sensor MDA5 was required for type I and III IFN induction in the lung cancer cell line Calu-3 upon SARS-CoV-2 infection. Type I…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Postinfection treatment with a protease inhibitor increases survival of mice with a fatal SARS-CoV-2 infection</strong> - Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection continues to be a serious global public health threat. The 3C-like protease (3CLpro) is a virus protease encoded by SARS-CoV-2, which is essential for virus replication. We have previously reported a series of small-molecule 3CLpro inhibitors effective for inhibiting replication of human coronaviruses including SARS-CoV-2 in cell culture and in animal models. Here we generated a series of deuterated variants of a 3CLpro…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Potential In Vitro Inhibition of Selected Plant Extracts against SARS-CoV-2 Chymotripsin-Like Protease (3CL(Pro)) Activity</strong> - Antiviral treatments inhibiting Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) replication may represent a strategy complementary to vaccination to fight the ongoing Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic. Molecules or extracts inhibiting the SARS-CoV-2 chymotripsin-like protease (3CL^(Pro)) could contribute to reducing or suppressing SARS-CoV-2 replication. Using a targeted approach, we identified 17 plant products that are included in current and traditional cuisines as…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Antiviral Activity of Vitis vinifera Leaf Extract against SARS-CoV-2 and HSV-1</strong> - Vitis vinifera represents an important and renowned source of compounds with significant biological activity. Wines and winery bioproducts, such as grape pomace, skins, and seeds, are rich in bioactive compounds against a wide range of human pathogens, including bacteria, fungi, and viruses. However, little is known about the biological properties of vine leaves. The aim of this study was the evaluation of phenolic composition and antiviral activity of Vitis vinifera leaf extract against two…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Antiviral Effects of Green Tea EGCG and Its Potential Application against COVID-19</strong> - (-)-Epigallocatechin-3-O-gallate (EGCG), the most abundant component of catechins in tea (Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze), plays a role against viruses through inhibiting virus invasiveness, restraining gene expression and replication. In this paper, the antiviral effects of EGCG on various viruses, including DNA virus, RNA virus, coronavirus, enterovirus and arbovirus, were reviewed. Meanwhile, the antiviral effects of the EGCG epi-isomer counterpart (+)-gallocatechin-3-O-gallate (GCG) were…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Identification of 13 Guanidinobenzoyl- or Aminidinobenzoyl-Containing Drugs to Potentially Inhibit TMPRSS2 for COVID-19 Treatment</strong> - Positively charged groups that mimic arginine or lysine in a natural substrate of trypsin are necessary for drugs to inhibit the trypsin-like serine protease TMPRSS2 that is involved in the viral entry and spread of coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2. Based on this assumption, we identified a set of 13 approved or clinically investigational drugs with positively charged guanidinobenzoyl and/or aminidinobenzoyl groups, including the experimentally verified TMPRSS2 inhibitors Camostat and…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Antimicrobial Peptides and Physical Activity: A Great Hope against COVID 19</strong> - Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), α- and β-defensins, possess antiviral properties. These AMPs achieve viral inhibition through different mechanisms of action. For example, they can: (i) bind directly to virions; (ii) bind to and modulate host cell-surface receptors, disrupting intracellular signaling; (iii) function as chemokines to augment and alter adaptive immune responses. Given their antiviral properties and the fact that the development of an effective coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)…</p></li>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-patent-search">From Patent Search</h1>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Differential detection kit for common SARS-CoV-2 variants in COVID-19 patients</strong> - - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=AU328840861">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>SARS-CoV-2 anti-viral therapeutic</strong> - - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=AU327160071">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A POLYHERBAL ALCOHOL FREE FORMULATION FOR ORAL CAVITY</strong> - The present invention generally relates to a herbal composition. Specifically, the present invention relates to a polyherbal alcohol free composition comprising of Glycyrrhiza glabra root extract, Ocimum sanctum leaf extract, Elettaria cardamomum fruit extract, Mentha spicata (Spearmint) oil and Tween 80 and method of preparation thereof. The polyherbal alcohol free composition of the present invention possesses excellent antimicrobial properties and useful for oral cavity. - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=IN325690740">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>一种新冠病毒肺炎重症化预测系统及方法</strong> - 本发明涉及疾病预测技术领域，公开了一种新冠病毒肺炎重症化预测系统及方法，包括以下步骤：步骤一，采集患者血常规信息和用户信息；步骤二，将患者血常规信息按照用户信息进行等级分类；步骤三，将已经等级分类的患者血常规信息与对应等级的标准信息进行比较；步骤四，当患者血常规信息在标准信息范围内则判定患者为轻症患者，当患者血常规信息在标准信息范围外则判定患者为重症患者。本发明能够准确快速地区分轻症和重症。 - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=CN328308318">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>一种诊断标志物及其在COVID-19诊断及冠状病毒既往感染检测中的应用</strong> - 本发明公开一种诊断标志物及在COVID‑19诊断及冠状病毒既往感染检测中的应用。所述诊断标志物包括肽段COVID19‑V001，所述肽段COVID19‑V001的氨基酸序列为：包含FKEELDKYFKNH中5个及5个以上连续氨基酸的序列；或所述肽段COVID19‑V001的氨基酸序列为：包含FKEELDKYFKNH中1个到几个氨基酸的取代或/和缺失或/和添加所形成的序列。基于本发明的诊断标志物应用间接法定性检测人血清中抗肽段的IgG抗体的水平。通过基于本发明所建立的检测试剂盒，可作为新型冠状病毒肺炎(COVID‑19)及诊断的一种辅助手段，还可作为区分感染和疫苗接种的手段。 - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=CN328308307">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>MEDIDOR DE SATURACION</strong> - - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=ES325874099">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>폐마스크 밀봉 회수기</strong> - 본 발명은 마스크 착용 후 버려지는 일회용 폐마스크를 비닐봉지에 넣은 후 밀봉하여 배출함으로써, 2차 감염을 예방하고 일반 생활폐기물과 선별 분리 배출하여 환경오염을 방지하는 데 그 목적이 있다. - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=KR325788342">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>백신 냉각 및 해동 기능을 갖는 백신 보관장치</strong> - 본 발명은 백신 냉각 및 해동 기능을 갖는 백신 보관장치에 관한 것으로, 상, 하부하우징의 제1상, 하부누출방지공간에 냉각물질이 충입된 냉각파이프를 설치하되, 제2상, 하부누출방지공간에 가열물질이 충입된 가열파이프를 설치하여, 구획판부에 의해 구획된 백신냉각공간 및 백신해동공간 각각을 냉각 및 가열하고, 보조도어를 통해 백신냉각공간 내에 수용된 백신을 구획판부의 백신출구도어를 통해 백신해동공간으로 이동시켜, 백신해동공간 내에서 백신을 해동함으로써, 즉시 사용이 가능한 백신을 인출도어를 통해 인출할 수 있다. 본 발명에 따르면, 냉각파이프에 저장된 냉매에 의해 백신냉각공간 내의 온도가 극저온 상태로 변화되고, 극저온 상태를 유지하는 백신냉각공간 내에 백신을 저장하여, 안전하게 보관 할 수 있으며, 백신냉각공간 내의 백신을 백신해동공간 내로 이동시켜, 백신해동공간 내에서 백신을 해동할 수 있고, 이 해동된 백신을 인출도어를 통해 인출한 후 즉시 사용할 수 있어 백신을 해동하는 시간이 단축되며, 보조도어를 통해 백신냉각공간 내의 백신을 백신해동공간으로 이동시켜, 백신이 외기에 노출될 우려가 없으며, 백신냉각공간 내의 백신을 백신해동공간으로 이동시키거나 또는 인출도어를 통해 백신 인출시 정렬장치가 백신을 보조도어 및 인출도어 직하방에 자동 위치시킨다. - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=KR327274025">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>一种基于新型冠状病毒S蛋白的纳米抗体及其应用</strong> - 本发明属于生物医药技术领域，尤其涉及一种基于新型冠状病毒S蛋白的纳米抗体及其应用。本发明利用纳米抗体文库，以2019新型冠状病毒的Spike S1+S2ECD为靶点，筛选获得一种针对2019新型冠状病毒的纳米抗体，经ELISA检测，不仅能够特异性识别2019新型冠状病毒的Spike S1+S2ECD靶点，还同时能够识别Spike RBD靶点，且结合信号较强。将相应抗体序列构建至原核表达载体中进行表达纯化，成功表达出目标抗体，纯化后纯度大于90％；且经VHH抗体ELISA检测发现，纯化后的纳米抗体对两种靶点均具有较高的亲和力。 - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=CN328278162">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>一种基于新型冠状病毒S蛋白S1亚基的纳米抗体及其应用</strong> - 本发明属于生物医药技术领域，尤其涉及一种基于新型冠状病毒S蛋白S1亚基的纳米抗体及其应用。本发明利用纳米抗体文库，以2019新型冠状病毒的Spike RBD为靶点，筛选获得一种针对2019新型冠状病毒的纳米抗体，经ELISA检测，不仅能够特异性识别2019新型冠状病毒的Spike RBD靶点，还同时能够识别SPIKE S1+S2ECD靶点，且结合信号较强。将相应抗体序列构建至原核表达载体中进行表达纯化，成功表达出目标抗体，纯化后纯度大于90％；且经VHH抗体ELISA检测发现，纯化后的纳米抗体对两种靶点均具有较高的亲和力。 - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=CN328308282">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="daily-dose">Daily-Dose</h1>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="#from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-vox">From Vox</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</a></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Persistent Fantasy of a Trump Knockout Punch</strong> - Will the New York case against the Trump Organization—finally—be his accountability moment? - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-bidens-washington/the-persistent-fantasy-of-a-trump-knockout-punch">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>New York City’s Needless Election Fiasco</strong> - A bungled vote-counting procedure brought national attention to the city’s long history of poor election administration. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-local-correspondents/new-york-citys-needless-election-fiasco">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>After a Hundred Years, What Has China’s Communist Party Learned?</strong> - Beijing reverts to a belief that paranoia and suspicion are the best policies. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/after-a-hundred-years-what-has-chinas-communist-party-learned">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>This July 4th, Can We De-Adapt from the Pandemic and Trump at the Same Time?</strong> - Although 2021 is only half over, it has brought about two major restart moments—one in politics and the other in public health. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/this-july-4th-can-we-de-adapt-from-the-pandemic-and-trump-at-the-same-time">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Sifting Silently Through Surfside’s Rubble</strong> - Sinead Imbaro and her Belgian Malinois’s quest for hints of life. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/dispatch/sifting-silently-through-surfsides-rubble">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>What a Reagan-era law can teach Democrats about legalizing undocumented immigrants</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="A protester in a crowd on a city street holds up a sign that reads, “No human being is illegal.”" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/kndIbyxSbuur2CwoVJr4l7oHiqY=/0x0:2657x1993/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69539879/1229083359.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
Thousands of New Yorkers rally for immigrant rights on December 18, 2016. | Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Congress legalized millions of undocumented immigrants in 1986 — and it could again.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jzaS31">
Among President Joe Biden’s key campaign promises on immigration was to create an eight-year path to citizenship for the more than 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the US as part of a <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/22289746/biden-immigration-reform-bill-congress">broader reform package</a> that is currently stalled in Congress.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2oSCll">
Republicans have decried the proposal as a magnet for further unauthorized immigration, but GOP lawmakers supported a similarly sweeping law to legalize the undocumented population in 1986 — the last and only legislation of its kind that Congress has passed.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="I7A5e8">
Nearly four decades later, it’s clear the Republican position isn’t completely correct. Legislation like the 1986 law, known as the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), could actually reduce unauthorized immigration and give the US economy a boost as it continues to recover from the pandemic.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EiwQdZ">
The IRCA was one of Ronald Reagan’s key bipartisan achievements at a time when the Senate was also closely divided, with Republicans having a slim majority. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1986_United_States_Senate_elections"></a> And it can offer a benchmark for Democrats pursuing legalization efforts today.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="iXULyN">
The bill, which passed <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/99th-congress/senate-bill/1200/all-actions?overview=closed&amp;q=%7B%22roll-call-vote%22%3A%22all%22%7D">63-24</a> in the Senate, granted green cards to nearly 2.7 million people — roughly <a href="https://www.lexisnexis.com/legalnewsroom/immigration/b/outsidenews/posts/irca-in-retrospect-guideposts-for-today-s-immigration-reform">three-quarters</a> of the undocumented population at the time — who had been in the country continuously for at least four years, who paid a fine and back taxes, and who demonstrated what was defined as “good moral character.” It also introduced penalties for employers who hire undocumented immigrants and increased border enforcement.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SHAicl">
In the years after its implementation, it mitigated unauthorized immigration and improved socioeconomic mobility for the immigrants who were legalized and their families, leading to a new surge of Latino political power. But it still didn’t resolve the challenge of unauthorized immigration for good, given that the undocumented population in the US has more than quadrupled in the intervening years.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ubA7dj">
Though some have argued that a similar bill could never pass in today’s partisan environment — particularly following former President Donald Trump’s efforts to stir up anti-immigrant sentiment — IRCA’s prospects seemed similarly bleak. It was the result of more than 15 years of negotiations, with the anti-immigrant and pro-immigrant camps in Congress drawing strict battle lines. And it was declared “dead” several times before it ultimately passed, earning it a reputation as the “<a href="https://www.persee.fr/doc/remi_0765-0752_1990_num_6_1_1230">corpse that would not die</a>.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sbzoCo">
That should serve as a lesson to today’s lawmakers, who could be doing more to exhaust the option of bipartisan legislation rather than staking their hopes on managing to keep their caucus unified enough to pass a bill through budget reconciliation without any Republican votes, said Charles Kamasaki, a senior cabinet adviser at the immigrant advocacy group UnidosUS who wrote a <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Immigration-Reform-Corpse-That-Will/dp/194213455X">book about IRCA</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RWi9xe">
“These kinds of bills are really hard to pass. Before they pass, they almost invariably die,” he said. “You have to be in a constant search for where you can get the votes. And that inevitably involves trade offs and compromises that aren’t necessarily fully satisfactory to either side.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RScRdZ">
<a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0123507">Partisanship has risen sharply</a> since the mid-1980s, but some immigration experts believe that it’s still worth it for Democrats to pursue serious bipartisan negotiations on immigration — if not to actually identify room for compromise and achieve an agreement, then to convince their caucus that budget reconciliation is the only way forward. Failing to act will leave millions continuing to live in the shadows as kind of permanent underclass, vulnerable to exploitation and to removal from a country where many of them have laid roots.
</p>
<h3 id="nAgpFu">
Legalization limited unauthorized immigration levels
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="oLIzDq">
Anti-immigration hawks often make the argument that enacting another mass legalization program would only set a precedent encouraging more immigrants to cross the border without authorization in the hopes that they, too, might one day achieve legal status. Sen. Thom Tillis, for example, wrote in an April <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/biden-border-crisis-security-migrant-failed-sen-thom-tillis">Fox News op-ed</a> that Biden’s proposal for “mass amnesty” would send a “clear signal that our border is open for anyone and everyone.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uzSDkA">
But <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12962057/">several</a> <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02343244">studies</a> have found either no significant change, or a modest decline, in unauthorized immigration levels on the US-Mexico border due to IRCA in the years immediately following the law’s implementation. And a <a href="https://www.american.edu/spa/publicpurpose/upload/2011-public-purpose-amnesty-effect.pdf">2011 paper</a> by Joshua Linder, then at American University’s School of Public Affairs, found that there were fewer apprehensions of migrants at the southern border over the long-term period from 1986 to 2000 than there would have been without IRCA. Even though the overall number of unauthorized immigrants living in the US has grown significantly in decades since IRCA, it could have been even larger.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="40b1aW">
“[A]mnesty programs do not encourage illegal immigration, contrary to the vigorous claims of some critics of amnesty programs,” Linder writes.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yIc0JH">
He acknowledges that there might be other reasons not to endorse another mass legalization push, such as potential costs and effects on the US economy. But setting a bad precedent for future migrants isn’t one of them.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ZbkOcr">
Rather, what might have actually contributed to the rise in the unauthorized immigrant population was the rapid expansion of immigration enforcement in the years following 1986, which actually caused more migrants to decide to settle in the US permanently, Princeton sociologist Doug Massey and his co-authors found in a <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27721512/">2016 paper</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2Cp0q4">
Before the IRCA, Mexican people had moved back and forth across the border, usually looking for opportunities for temporary work and crossing in El Paso and San Diego. The US’s decision to expand immigration enforcement didn’t really alter their ability to cross the border. They weren’t much more likely to be apprehended when they attempted to cross, and even if they were discovered by US immigration officials and swiftly returned to Mexico, they could still succeed after multiple attempts.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RwlM6n">
What changed, however, was the costs and risks associated with returning to their home country and then attempting to reenter the US because of greater penalties for being apprehended. Migrants had to start crossing in more dangerous regions of the border, going through the Sonoran Desert and Arizona, and came to rely more heavily on the services of paid smugglers, which became more expensive. Between 1980 and 2010, the probability that a migrant would return to their home countries after their first trip to the US consequently dropped from 48 percent to zero, according to Massey’s paper.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ess50Q">
What might reverse the trend, the paper argues, is if the US legalizes the population of undocumented immigrants living in the US, or at least broad swaths of it, which might allow more people to return to their home country. They wouldn’t need to pay smugglers in order to eventually come back to the US should they desire, and they wouldn’t face adverse immigration consequences if they were caught trying to cross the border without authorization.
</p>
<h3 id="V7FpgN">
Newly legalized immigrants and their communities reaped the benefits
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QfY3GF">
The benefits of the 1986 mass legalization are even clearer several decades later — and not just for the immigrants who were granted legal status.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="spwayx">
Affected immigrants’ wages grew by as much as <a href="https://cdn.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/immigrationeconreport3.pdf?_ga=2.84195226.2094148220.1625144271-1977134278.1623345886">15 percent</a> within five years of the bill’s implementation and 20 percent in the long-run while their poverty rates declined. That’s likely because they were accepting low wages in order to mitigate the risk of deportation and were vulnerable to exploitation by employers, but legalization removed barriers to seeking better paying jobs and also incentivized immigrants to improve their educational attainment and English skills in order to earn even more. Those higher wages mean more tax revenue and more consumer purchasing power.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WTqSWe">
They became more likely to be <a href="https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/working_papers/2010/RAND_WR754.pdf">naturalized citizens</a> — with <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/11/26/what-happened-to-the-millions-of-immigrants-granted-legal-status-under-ronald-reagan/">about a third</a> of those legalized becoming citizens by 2001 — and less likely to <a href="https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/working_papers/2010/RAND_WR754.pdf">work in occupations</a> that traditionally hire many unauthorized immigrants. One 20-year study also showed that they laid down more permanent roots and contributed more to their communities as a result of legalization, opening bank accounts, buying homes and starting businesses.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="s31MXJ">
It’s reasonable to expect that their children also fared better as a result, especially given that the children of undocumented immigrants are <a href="http://www.academia.edu/5923999/Child_Well-Being_and_the_Intergenerational_Effects_of_Undocumented_Immigrant_Status">more likely to be poor and have worse health outcomes</a> than children of people with legal status.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1QuaaN">
Research suggests that national crime rates also declined by a persistent <a href="https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.p20151041">3 to 5 percent</a>, or about 120,000 to 180,000 fewer violent and property crimes annually, due to IRCA’s implementation.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="S2J68h">
“It was a boon for not just those families, but for the their communities as well,” said Muzaffar Chishti, a senior fellow at the Migration Policy Institute, a pro-immigration think tank, who previously lobbied for the bill and was involved in its implementation.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xWpPpg">
The economic payoffs of mass legalization could be even greater today given the demographic challenges that the US is currently facing, Chishti said.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JUtsvB">
There is a widening gap in the number of working-age adults that are able to support an aging population of baby boomers, as evidenced by <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/22411236/immigration-census-population-growth">2020 Census figures</a> that showed the lowest population growth the US has seen since the 1930s. This puts the US both in danger of worker shortages in key industries like home health care, hospitality, transportation, and construction, but also of long-term population declines of the sort <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-53424726">Japan and Italy</a> are currently grappling with.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OxWj1a">
Immigration has historically insulated the US from population decline and represents a kind of tap that the US can turn on and off. Over the next decade, it is set to become the <a href="https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2018/cb18-41-population-projections.html">primary driver of population growth</a> for the first time in US history. Legalization could help make it a more effective tool.
</p>
<h3 id="9PMs4p">
Legalization should be tied to reforms to the legal immigration system
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="giH8c7">
IRCA’s biggest fault is that it focused exclusively on unauthorized immigration and ignored reforms expanding the legal immigration system, and any attempt to replicate its successes would need to improve upon that legal system.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="njuSzF">
The US has issued roughly about 1 million green cards annually for most of the 21st century, though those numbers dipped under Trump. Only about <a href="https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/frequently-requested-statistics-immigrants-and-immigration-united-states-2020">14 percent </a>of those green cards are reserved for people coming to the US for work and their family members. Increasing the current caps on green cards for employment-based immigrants across the skills spectrum would help address labor market need in the US while also creating new legal pathways for people to come to the US rather than trying to cross the border without authorization or pursue an asylum claim.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fQQUqP">
“The vast majority of immigrants coming to the U.S.-Mexico border clearly want the opportunity to enter a legal process, and many of them are accessing the only legal process available to them: asylum and related procedures,” David Bier, a policy analyst at the right-leaning Cato Institute, <a href="https://www.cato.org/publications/policy-analysis/legal-immigration-will-resolve-americas-real-border-problems">writes</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="eBjlOe">
The amount by which employment-based immigration should be increased is <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/22411236/immigration-census-population-growth">debated</a>. The Migration Policy Institute has suggested tying it to the number of new unauthorized immigrants who come to the US annually: about 250,000. That number could potentially shift over time as the US’s demand for labor changes.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GzaC2V">
“If we just increase employment-based immigration by 250,000 a year, we’ll be getting close to letting letting supply meet demand,” Chishti said.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QqDPuQ">
Others have advocated for increases to all forms of legal immigration <a href="https://www.cato.org/publications/policy-analysis/legal-immigration-will-resolve-americas-real-border-problems">across the board</a>, not just for those coming to the US to work.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1HTs4d">
Chishti said that legalization and increases in legal immigration should also be accompanied by a more robust employment eligibility verification system, such as some form of universal, mandatory E-Verify, which is currently optional for most employers. That’s especially important given that the sanctions in IRCA for employers who hired undocumented immigrants didn’t end up <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/01/30/in-1986-congress-tried-to-solve-immigration-why-didnt-it-work/">having much teeth</a>. Some have cautioned that expanding E-Verify on its own would end up hurting small businesses and their workers — but those negative effects might be mitigated if they have access to a <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/immigration/news/2011/09/13/10273/the-10-numbers-you-need-to-know-about-e-verify/">new pool of legalized workers</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CwDTxN">
Still, Chishti questioned the feasibility of pairing new legal paths for immigrants, an employment based increase, and tougher employment eligibility in a comprehensive reform package, a format that has <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2013/01/30/how-immigration-reform-failed-over-and-over/">failed time and time again</a> in Congress over the past two decades.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zDqAzq">
“The combination of these three things would get us to a better place,” he said. “Unfortunately it doesn’t work politically.”
</p>
<h3 id="G5yRqy">
Getting to 60 votes in the Senate on legalization is a tall order today
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8VvuWG">
The current conventional wisdom on the left is that, unlike in 1986, bipartisanship on immigration is dead — that there is no point in seeking compromise with Republicans, and that reconciliation, which allows Democrats to pass policy on their own, is the only way to push through the Democratic agenda. The struggle to reach a deal on <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/6/30/22545736/cost-of-bipartisanship-democrats-infrastructure">Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure package</a>, and the uncertainty over whether the <a href="https://www.vox.com/22553888/joe-biden-infrastructure-deal-bipartisanship-democrats-republicans">agreement will pass the Senate</a>, suggests that we shouldn’t expect anything different on immigration — particularly given infrastructure improvements are something most lawmakers of both parties are for, whereas the same can’t be said for immigration reform.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3wgIJF">
“It took a popular president like Reagan to make [IRCA] happen,” Chishti said. “Reagan is the last president we had who not only could tell his own party what to do, but he could also tell a significant number of Democrats what to do.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4rPlkN">
But Kamasaki said that the level of bipartisanship over immigration in the Reagan era was “pretty heavily overrated” and that the restrictionist position was generally more dominant. What’s more, polling shows that immigration was <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2018/06/28/shifting-public-views-on-legal-immigration-into-the-u-s/">much less popular</a> amid the public in those days.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wM8ZGf">
“While the pro- and anti-immigrant factions in both parties, those lines were pretty clear and they were pretty rigid and frankly, not terribly different from where they are now,” Kamasaki said.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XPsJEj">
What ultimately drew more progressive Democrats to the bill who had initially been hesitant was a provision to extend temporary protections to citizens of countries suffering from natural disasters or armed conflict, he said. That provision was eventually stricken from the bill before its passage, but it helped get more people invested in it. There might be similar bargaining chips that exist today.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DpSNLF">
“I think there may well be similar kinds of measures that that might be attractive to moderate Democrats and Republicans now,” Kamasaki said. “But it’s going to be hard to unearth those without having substantive discussions.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yitJ1f">
While passing an immigration reform bill via reconciliation may be ideal for Democrats, it’s also critical that they thoroughly explore bipartisan options, Kamasaki said. There are weaknesses to the reconciliation route: there are limitations on what can be included in a reconciliation bill, and it would be vulnerable to individual senators opting not to cooperate. Seeing the prospect of a bipartisan deal exhausted might also help more Democrats get on board with reconciliation to reach the necessary 50-vote threshold in the Senate.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="o2HVYJ">
And Republicans concerned about immigration should keep in mind that Democrats might be willing concede certain enforcement measures, even though they aren’t talking about it right now. In 2017, for example, some were willing to <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/2/15/17015958/immigration-bill-bipartisan-senate-daca">trade</a> permanent legal protection for more than 700,000 young undocumented immigrants who came to the US as children for $25 billion in border wall funding. Expanding E-Verify might also be a potential concession, Kamasaki said.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GUEhaw">
“My critique of the field these days, really on both sides, is that there aren’t a lot of people working at it,” he said. “Unless you actually talk to people and figure out what their limits are, it’s hard to even potentially craft compromise.”
</p></li>
<li><strong>What if the truth isn’t out there?</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/zHG-tLTGL6I4aPo4npCfV_doaAs=/0x466:1280x1426/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69537989/potw1938a.0.jpeg"/>
<figcaption>
It’s possible humans are the only industrial civilization in the entire galaxy. | <a class="ql-link" href="https://www.eso.org/public/images/potw1938a/" target="_blank">ESO/P. Horálek</a>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The wishful thinking behind the search for alien life.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fSGvj9">
The US military’s official report on <a href="https://www.vox.com/22463659/ufo-videos-navy-alien-drone">UFOs</a> is here, and its conclusion is scintillating: There’s some stuff in the sky, the government isn’t sure what it is, there’s no evidence that it’s aliens, but also no one’s ruling out aliens. So in conclusion, the UFOs are part of life’s rich pageant and anything is possible.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MHfYT3">
The nine-page report released by the Director of National Intelligence’s (DNI) office last week, formally titled <a href="https://www.dni.gov/files/ODNI/documents/assessments/Prelimary-Assessment-UAP-20210625.pdf">“Preliminary Assessment: Unidentified Aerial Phenomena,”</a> says a little bit more than “we know nothing.” But that is the main takeaway. “Limited Data Leaves Most UAP Unexplained” reads the report’s first subject heading.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ctMtwD">
That takeaway comes as something of an anticlimax capping off a period of frenzied speculation over UAPs (the new preferred term for “UFO”). The current mania was kicked off by a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/16/us/politics/pentagon-program-ufo-harry-reid.html">2017 New York Times A1 article</a> revealing the existence of a quiet Pentagon program analyzing strange aerial sightings by pilots. Since then, a steady stream of <a href="https://www.vox.com/22463659/ufo-videos-navy-alien-drone">mainstream news coverage and Pentagon disclosures</a> have kept UAPs in the public eye, complete with details about their allegedly fantastical, above-human capabilities.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DzTOw3">
In the immediate wake of the DNI report, <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-unexplained-phenomena-of-the-ufo-report">no minds have been changed</a>. The skeptics are still skeptical. Believers in the “extraterrestrial hypothesis” (ETH) still believe.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wofuHc">
Which is about right. This report simply doesn’t contain enough new information to move anyone’s assessments much in one direction or another. It was mostly meant to summarize the UFO sightings the Pentagon has looked at, rather than explain those sightings. It was reportedly <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-unexplained-phenomena-of-the-ufo-report">written in half a year by two people working part-time</a>; it is not a large-scale evidence review like the 9/11 Report.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/sXq7fTklzaql8WKFJSawJx2up-c=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22696272/Screen_Shot_2021_06_16_at_12.44.15_copy.jpg"/> <cite><a class="ql-link" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rWOtrke0HY" target="_blank">Official UAP Footage from the USG</a></cite>
<figcaption>
A still from the GOFAST UFO video.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4c83fJ">
So the UFO-curious public is left more or less where it started before this latest round of UFO stories: not knowing what these objects in the sky are or where they’re from or what if anything they tell us about the universe.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yC7c8o">
Let me lay my cards on the table here: I’ve long been on the skeptics’ side. I don’t think we have any evidence that these UAPs are a sign of intelligent life on a different planet. But I also know that it’s a question we have to get to the bottom of, and to do that the government needs to allocate a bit more in the way of research funding.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="iAdlFh">
We have to get to the bottom of this question because the truth about UFOs — particularly if the extraterrestrial hypothesis happens to be somehow true — could clarify humans’ role in the universe.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="oj8xGm">
Physicists, astronomers, philosophers, and other smart people have been trying to suss out what the existence or nonexistence of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe could mean. It could be we’re all alone in the universe, which leads to certain mind-breaking implications — one of which is perhaps humanity has a moral duty to preserve civilization because it exists nowhere else in the vast expanse of space. Or it could be that we do have cosmic neighbors, but that those neighbors haven’t reached out because they face difficult challenges — challenges that could be waiting for us in our own future and that could inform how we act today.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uQnWpv">
In other words, the UFO question is a subquestion of a much broader, more profound inquiry into the future of humanity.
</p>
<h3 id="DD2KIB">
Fermi’s paradox and the puzzle of intelligent life elsewhere
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kR2ug5">
A finding that UFOs represent an alien civilization visiting Earth would be crucially important, first and foremost because it would answer a question scientists have been asking for at least the last century: Where is everybody?
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xQcasm">
The universe is almost incomprehensibly vast: In the Milky Way galaxy alone, there are <a href="https://www.space.com/25959-how-many-stars-are-in-the-milky-way.html">hundreds of billions of stars</a>, and <a href="https://science.ubc.ca/news/many-six-billion-earth-planets-our-galaxy-according-new-estimates">as many as 6 billion</a> of them could be Sun-like stars with rocky Earth-like planets orbiting them. There are <a href="https://phys.org/news/2017-01-universe-trillion-galaxies.html">hundreds of billions if not trillions of galaxies</a> alongside the Milky Way.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/hQwuk_ixC5ToWi_5mMO30aMGC40=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22696298/GettyImages_1288680990_copy.jpg"/> <cite>Alan Dyer/VW PICS/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
The summer Milky Way from the Howse Pass Viewpoint at Saskatchewan River Crossing in Banff National Park, Alberta.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gnszZL">
It would be strange for humans to be the only intelligent life (or, at least, the only life of above-chimpanzee intelligence) in all that vastness. And, intuitively, it seems like some of our peers should have surpassed us and developed the ability to send probes thousands of light-years away to observe us.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vVcfCP">
This puzzle is commonly known as Fermi’s paradox, after its articulation by the 20th-century physicist Enrico Fermi, and it<strong> </strong>has fascinated astronomers, physicists, and science fiction fans for decades. As <a href="https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2018/7/3/17522810/aliens-fermi-paradox-drake-equation">Liv Boeree explained for Vox</a>, much of the literature on the Fermi paradox relies on a model known as the Drake equation, devised by physicist Frank Drake to estimate the number of “active, communicative, extra-terrestrial civilizations” in our galaxy.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fl6x6O">
The equation includes some variables astronomers are able to estimate (like the rate of star formation in the Milky Way and the fraction of stars with planets) and some inherently speculative ones, like the fraction of planets that develop intelligent life. The Drake equation is thus quite imprecise, and it requires plugging in numbers where researchers have tremendous uncertainty.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pG2eF6">
In 2017, Anders Sandberg, Eric Drexler, and Toby Ord of the Future of Humanity Institute <a href="https://arxiv.org/pdf/1806.02404.pdf">attempted rough estimates</a> of the odds that human civilization is alone in the galaxy and universe by giving uniform odds to a number of different parameters. For instance, they estimated that the share of planets with life that also have <em>intelligent</em> life could be anywhere from 0.1 percent to 100 percent, and gave equal odds to every number in that range.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ofXHbZ">
They then incorporated the fact that we haven’t observed other intelligent civilizations, which should lower our estimated odds of their existence. The paper concluded that there’s a 53 percent to 99.6 percent chance of humans being the only intelligent civilization in the Milky Way, and a 39 percent to 85 percent chance of being alone in the observable universe.
</p>
<h3 id="6nn5uR">
The threat of the Great Filter
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KNPAsX">
The optimistic read, as <a href="https://80000hours.org/podcast/episodes/anders-sandberg-fermi-paradox/">outlined by Sandberg elsewhere</a>, is that this finding should reduce our fear that humans face a huge extinction event in our future.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0pqzof">
How does that follow? Well, one common explanation for humans’ apparent loneliness in the universe is that intelligent life is actually incredibly common — but almost always destroys itself at some point. Either a civilization’s own technology grows so advanced and dangerous that it wipes itself out, or natural phenomena like meteors or supervolcanoes strike before the civilization has the chance to send probes to look at us.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dOr1ru">
This theory is known as the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20100507074729/http://hanson.gmu.edu/greatfilter.html">Great Filter</a>, and it has a certain terrifying plausibility to it. Humanity has already developed tools capable of wiping itself out, or else shrinking itself to a size so small that it cannot endure and sustain itself: nuclear weapons, engineered pathogens, possibly greenhouse gas emissions.
</p>
<div class="c-float-right c-float-hang">
<aside id="gY2Gz6">
<q>There is a part of me that wants the objects in the sky to be aliens because the alternative is so dismal.</q>
</aside>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vV80V3">
Oxford’s Ord, in last year’s book <a href="https://smile.amazon.com/Precipice-Existential-Risk-Future-Humanity/dp/0316484911?sa-no-redirect=1"><em>The Precipice: Existential Risk and the Future of Humanity</em></a>, roughly estimates the odds of a human-caused extinction or extinction-level event in the next century at about one in six.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ND1MaV">
There’s a <a href="https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/Z5KZ2cui8WDjyF6gJ/some-thoughts-on-toby-ord-s-existential-risk-estimates">lot of uncertainty</a> around those estimates. But one in six is a very significant risk. Most election forecasters gave <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/jsvine/2016-election-forecast-grades">lower odds to a Donald Trump victory</a> in 2016.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="peaIM9">
And if our loneliness in the universe is evidence that every other civilization has destroyed itself in a fashion like this, then one in six might be an overly optimistic estimate. If, on the other hand, the difficult-to-pass “filter” is in our past (say, at the stage in which lifeless molecules combined to create viruses and bacteria), as the Sandberg/Drexler/Ord research suggests, then our loneliness need not imply a grave threat in our future.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Eq5L91">
Researchers interested in the potential risk posed by the Great Filter tend to focus on <a href="https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/ast.2019.2154">searching for “biosignatures” or “technosignatures”</a>: observable attributes of planets elsewhere in the galaxy that might give evidence of life or human-level technology.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="h7O3re">
Generally, the hope is to not find these signatures. If we see evidence that there are lots of planets with life up to or equal to human levels of sophistication, but not at levels of sophistication that exceed humans, that strengthens the argument that the filter is in the future, that humans will (like all technologically advanced civilizations) find a way to destroy ourselves.
</p>
<aside id="gc7Ecp">
<div>
</div>
</aside>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1MSgZ7">
“If the search for biosignatures reveals that life is everywhere while technology is not, then our challenge is even greater to secure a sustainable future,” researchers Jacob Haqq-Misra, Ravi Kumar Kopparapu, and Edward Schwieterman recently concluded in an <a href="https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/ast.2019.2154">article for the journal <em>Astrobiology</em></a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="R1JpLk">
If (and I must stress that this is a quite unlikely “if”) UFO sightings on earth are actually evidence that an advanced alien civilization has developed a system of long-distance probes that it is using to monitor or contact humanity, then that would be an immensely hopeful sign in Great FIlter terms.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qdT008">
It would mean that at least one civilization has far surpassed humanity without encountering any insurmountable hurdles preventing its survival. It would also mean Earth need not be the universe’s sole protector of intelligent life and civilization, meaning that if we do destroy ourselves, all is not lost, cosmically speaking.
</p>
<h3 id="xrcQ33">
What if we’re all alone?
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Iavb0Q">
Getting to the bottom of the UAPs and investigating whether there’s intelligent life elsewhere is important, and it’s probably worth devoting government resources toward solving the mystery.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GwRP3D">
But I also worry that belief in the extraterrestrial hypothesis is a kind of wishful thinking. If it’s wrong, and a Great Filter is in our future, that suggests our species is in immense danger. It would mean there are many, perhaps millions or billions, of civilizations like ours around the universe, but that they without fail destroy themselves at some point after they reach a certain level of technological sophistication. If that happened to them, it’ll almost certainly happen to us too.
</p>
<div class="c-wide-block">
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="A person with two cameras on tripods stands on a hilltop at night with the starry sky behind them." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/esVDBP-WAj0w7_egA3b4KgByMf0=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22696347/GettyImages_1228990258_copy.jpg"/> <cite>Ahmet Okur/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
Cihan Onen of Bitlis Eren University takes photos of the Milky Way, in Turkey on September 22, 2020.
</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="HtmIDn">
If the extraterrestrial hypothesis is wrong simply because we’re the only species that has even gotten this far, that’s alarming for a different reason. It implies that if we screw up, that’s it: The universe would be left as a desolate compilation of stars and planets without any thinking creatures on them. Nothing capable of empathizing or acting morally would exist anymore.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ExoVof">
Skeptic though I am, there is a part of me that wants the objects in the sky to be aliens because the alternative is so dismal. I want to know what these objects really are because the stakes are high enough that we need to get this right. But in a way, our current state of relative ignorance can be a bit of a silver lining — there’s comfort in the thought that we don’t know the answer yet, and that we can’t quite close the door on the possibility of life beyond Earth.
</p></li>
<li><strong>Movies like Summer of Soul can reclaim America’s important buried history</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="B.B. King plays onstage." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/HIUwuyeHkDbdWh-rT0E0BcFBAMQ=/0x0:1600x1200/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69537860/summer2.0.jpeg"/>
<figcaption>
B.B. King as captured in <em>Summer of Soul</em>. | Searchlight Pictures
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Lost history comes to vibrant life in Questlove’s new documentary, and it’s a total blast to watch.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sjzPj6">
Two summers ago, I <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/2019/8/13/20758555/woodstock-50-anniversary-summer-of-love-documentary-generation">wrote about Woodstock</a>. 2019 marked the 50th anniversary of the famous (perhaps infamous) music festival, and a ripe time to evaluate its legacy as captured in a landmark concert documentary. After all, it’s iconic; if you mention the place, people think of semi-naked hippies in a field and Jimi Hendrix absolutely shredding “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KWngdU">
But I was writing about the 50th anniversary of Woodstock before <em>Summer of Soul</em> <em>(… Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) </em>came out. In hindsight, after watching this absolutely spectacular barnburner of a concert documentary, I’m sad we weren’t talking about Harlem ’69 alongside Woodstock ’69.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BMxgRC">
Sad, but not particularly surprised it wasn’t on our collective radar.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Five singers on stage, backed by a band." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/QnT-p_u1em5sftWnZhBd4atoEsI=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22695661/summer1.jpeg"/> <cite>Searchlight Pictures</cite>
<figcaption>
The 5th Dimension performing at the Harlem Cultural Festival.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="AXDvWB">
Hopefully, you don’t need much convincing to watch <em>Summer of Soul</em> (and you have two options, on Hulu or, better, in a theater). Ahmir Thompson, a.k.a. Questlove, directed the film, which is mostly a concert documentary comprised of astounding, never-before-seen footage.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VBsyre">
In 1969, following a tumultuous year in America generally and New York City specifically, the city announced a series of concerts to take place over six weekends in Mount Morris Park (now Marcus Garvey Park), nestled into the heart of Manhattan’s Harlem neighborhood at the epicenter of Black cultural life. About 300,000 people attended in total (Woodstock, 100 miles to the north, attracted around 400,000). They called the event the Harlem Cultural Festival. The coffee brand<strong> </strong>Maxwell House was the sponsor. Jesse Jackson and Mayor John Lindsay showed up.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fLpvKr">
The main attraction was the music. And what a lineup! Nina Simone. B.B. King. Gladys Knight and the Pips. Mahalia Jackson. Pops Staples and the Staples Sisters, one of whom was named Mavis. The 5th Dimension. Herbie Mann. The Edwin Hawkins Singers. Mongo Santamaria. Moms Mabley. Max Roach. Stevie Wonder. Sly and the Family Stone, for whose performance the NYPD refused to provide security, so the Black Panthers did instead. There was Motown and gospel, soul and funk. And that’s just scratching the surface.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="v77VWH">
The entire series of concerts was filmed by a crew (just like Woodstock), with director and producer Al Tulchin at the helm. But in <em>Summer of Soul</em>, Tulchin explains that he tried to sell the footage for broadcast afterward, billing it as “Black Woodstock” to explain what the event had been, and found no takers. “Nobody cared about Harlem,” he says.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="liT1pj">
It’s not as if the concert featured obscure acts that drew no interest outside of Harlem, or even outside Black communities. They were driving American music and topping the charts. That didn’t matter to decision-makers. And so, the footage more or less sat in a can in someone’s basement for 50 years. Then, in recent years, producer Robert Fyvolent found out about it and bought the rights from Tulchin. Now, we have <em>Summer of Soul</em>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="B9Xy8g">
Every moment is a surprise. After a while, you’ll find yourself sitting with mouth agape, waiting to see which incredible cultural icon will walk out onto the stage next. The footage is kinetic and vivid, shot from angles that emphasize how the crowd is responding to each performance, pulling in close to faces dripping with sweat and emotion, and sometimes shooting from the stage,<strong> </strong>through gaps between<strong> </strong>instruments, to reveal faces thrilled with the show.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="957qJS">
I’ll never recover from watching Mahalia Jackson and Mavis Staples sing “Precious Lord, Take My Hand” on the same mic, so close we can see their individual teeth. It’s a song Jackson had performed alongside Martin Luther King Jr. many times before; King had been murdered a year before the concerts.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Two women sing into a microphone." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/YBaDBKLs7ffaRRh3o0Z_EoiNjns=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22695664/summer5.jpeg"/> <cite>Searchlight Pictures</cite>
<figcaption>
Mavis Staples and Mahalia Jackson in <em>Summer of Soul.</em>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="i8y9nP">
“Gospel was more than religious,” Al Sharpton explains. “Gospel was the therapy for the stress and pressure of being Black in America. We didn’t know anything about therapists, but we knew Mahalia Jackson.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="84iHNu">
Thompson, realizing that the significance of the event to the Black community of the historical moment could use contemporary reinforcement, brings in commentators — mostly people who were there more than 50 years ago — to talk about what it meant to see a crowd full of Black faces celebrating. Or to have the concerts occur in a moment of revolution, of crystallizing Black identity. “By the fashion in the crowd, you could see the change happening,” one commentator says.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="iQx7Vt">
A generational shift was taking place among Black Americans, and it mattered that the concerts occurred while debates raged within Harlem itself about nonviolence and militance, about expanding consciousness to encompass a whole range of cultures who’d been shut out by mainstream white America.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lAAHRQ">
In one sequence, Thompson weaves together a poignant exploration of the moon landing, which occurred in the midst of the festival’s run, and what the people gathered in Mount Morris Park were thinking during that “giant leap for mankind.” Archival footage reveals people significantly less convinced that landing on the moon was worth spending money that could have been used to relieve poverty and hunger down here on earth. In a manner that recounts a documentary like 2016’s <a href="https://www.vox.com/2016/6/11/11895826/oj-made-in-america-espn-oj-simpson"><em>O.J.: Made in America</em></a>, <em>Summer of Soul</em> deftly weaves the mood of the time and the long history of Black expression through music into this one moment, and it practically explodes off the screen.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ThVpAp">
That we’ve been talking about Woodstock and not the Harlem Cultural Festival all this time as if it’s the moment in which a generation emerged is not all that surprising. “The so-called powers that are, or were, didn’t find it significant enough to keep it as a part of history,” one participant in the film notes. It wasn’t like the festival’s essential erasure from cultural memory was an anomaly; Black history gets memory-holed all the time. It doesn’t happen by accident. Powerful people make choices about what they think is worth preserving in the cultural memory, and what’s just fine to forget.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="A woman mugs for the camera, followed by three dancing men." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/SIrZAqyirk3fzUMbiU_ARXTCoXs=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22695667/summer4.jpeg"/> <cite>Searchlight Pictures</cite>
<figcaption>
Gladys Knight and the Pips in <em>Summer of Soul.</em>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="J1UXts">
That’s why a movie like <em>Summer of Soul</em> matters. It’s not just a blast to watch — and it truly is a blast. It’s another tiny step in reclaiming the full history of America, expanding the context of our present not just for people who remember the past, but people who never knew about it in the first place. We’re fools if we don’t think burying the era-changing import of<strong> </strong>events like these is as much a part of American history as the events themselves — and movies like <em>Summer of Soul</em> fight back<strong> </strong>bringing the past vibrantly to life.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WEsdr7">
At the beginning of the film, Musa Jackson, who attended the festival as a kid, sits down to be interviewed about the experience. Off-camera, Thompson tells him that he’s going to start playing footage so Jackson can see it as he answers questions. But as soon as the light of the screen falls on his face, Jackson is transfixed, unable to answer questions, his eyes starting to grow wet. At the end of the film, he says that watching the footage moved something within him that always kind of doubted that his memory of the festival was real. Crying, he says, “I knew I was not crazy. But now I <em>know</em> I’m not. And this is just confirmation.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mivvqv">
Then he smiles. “And not only that,” Jackson says. “But how beautiful it was.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SwTfsm">
Summer of Soul (… Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)<em> is playing in theaters and streaming on Hulu.</em>
</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Denmark taking Eriksen inspiration to Wembley at Euro 2020</strong> - The Danes will next play England on Wednesday in London.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Hamilton says thrilling season convinced him to stay in F1</strong> - Hamilton said his previous contract was supposed to be for two years but he asked for one because he was unsure whether he would continue or not.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Aditi shoots 69 to improve at Volunteers of America Classic</strong> - Aditi had four birdies against two bogeys in her 69 and is now two-under for 54 holes.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Hunger is still there, adding new dimensions to my batting ahead of WC: Mithali</strong> - Mithali, who has retired from T20 cricket in 2019, has already hinted that the 2022 Women’s ODI World Cup, to be held in New Zealand from March 4 to April 3, will be her swansong.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Colombia head to Copa semis after penalties win over Uruguay</strong> - The final is scheduled for the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro on July 10.</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Will protest every day outside Parliament during monsoon session: Samyukt Kisan Morcha</strong> - Five people from each farmer union would be taken to join the protest, says farmer leader Gurnam Singh Charuni</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Odisha registers sharp rise in prevention of child marriages</strong> - Increased awareness and better coordination among field-level staff leading to decline in the practice</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Pushkar Singh Dhami sworn in as new Uttarakhand CM</strong> - Mr. Dhami was elected as the Uttarakhand BJP legislature party leader on Saturday.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Army Chief to inaugurate Indian Army memorial in Italy</strong> - Gen. Naravane to visit U.K. and Italy this week</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>CPI(M) demands JPC into Rafale deal, role of Modi</strong> - PM’s turnaround from earlier purchase agreement mired in deep corruption and money laundering, it says</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Vatican embezzlement trial: Cardinal Angelo Becciu among 10 charged</strong> - Angelo Becciu, a former aide to the Pope, is among 10 people a Vatican judge says must stand trial.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Cyprus appeals for help as deadly wildfire rips through forest</strong> - Four missing people are confirmed dead as a huge blaze forces the evacuation of several villages.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Swedish Coop supermarkets shut due to US ransomware cyber-attack</strong> - Some 500 stores are forced to close due to the ripple effects of a major cyber attack in the US.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Ukraine plans for women to march in high heels spark outrage</strong> - The military wants women soldiers to march in heels rather than army boots on independence day.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Europe migrant crisis: Boat sinks off Tunisia drowning 43</strong> - Another 84 migrants were rescued after their boat capsized in a bid to sail from Libya to Europe.</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Wimbledon: The tech behind the world’s top tennis tournament</strong> - From the archives: There’s a surprising amount of cool tech for a 140-year-old event. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1131697">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The great sleep divide</strong> - Sleep deficits are robbing poor people and racial minorities of health and earning power. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1778022">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A $26 billion plan to save the Houston area from rising seas</strong> - Lawmakers are poised to decide the fate of this massive project. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1778005">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Russian hackers are trying to brute-force hundreds of networks</strong> - Moscow’s Fancy Bear group has been on a password-guessing spree this whole time. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1777985">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>OpenZFS 2.1 is out—let’s talk about its brand-new dRAID vdevs</strong> - dRAID vdevs resilver very quickly, using spare capacity rather than spare disks. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1777983">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>My wife was dying.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
I was by her bedside.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
She said in a tired voice, “There’s something I must confess.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Shhh” I said, "There’s nothing to confess.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Everything’s alright."
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“No, I must die in peace. I had sex with your brother, your best friend, his best friend and your father.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“I know,” I whispered, " That’s why I poisoned you."
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/prasantaraut"> /u/prasantaraut </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/odbsso/my_wife_was_dying/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/odbsso/my_wife_was_dying/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><strong>My lesbian neighbors asked what I wanted for my birthday.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
They gave me a Rolex. I think they misunderstood when I said “I wanna watch”.
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Krunk3r-io"> /u/Krunk3r-io </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/od6i3d/my_lesbian_neighbors_asked_what_i_wanted_for_my/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/od6i3d/my_lesbian_neighbors_asked_what_i_wanted_for_my/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><strong>Did you hear about the house the lesbians built?</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Not a stud in the place, it’s all tongue ‘n’ groove
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Hammeredcopper"> /u/Hammeredcopper </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/odb3cn/did_you_hear_about_the_house_the_lesbians_built/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/odb3cn/did_you_hear_about_the_house_the_lesbians_built/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><strong>Woman goes to see a doctor about her bed wetting problem</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Doctors listens to her, nods sagely where appropriate and then tells her to strip. Woman is a bit confused but does as instructed. While she is undressing doctor places a big mirror on the floor and then tells woman to do a headstand over it. Even more confused woman does as instructed, figuring doctor must know what he is doing. As she does her thing doctor grabs her legs, pries them apart and places his chin between them. He studies the mirror for a minute and then gently releases woman’s legs, helping her come down. Once she is dressed he instructs her not to drink any liquids 3 hours before going to bad. “Thank you doctor. But what was the deal with mirror and headstand? I can’t see how that has anything to do with my problem or with treatment.” is woman curious. “Oh, you are right, it doesn’t.” explains the doctor. “I just wanted to see how I would look like with a beard.”
</p>
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<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/NoWingedHussarsToday"> /u/NoWingedHussarsToday </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/od7o6y/woman_goes_to_see_a_doctor_about_her_bed_wetting/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/od7o6y/woman_goes_to_see_a_doctor_about_her_bed_wetting/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><strong>Why is girlfriend one word but best friend two words?</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Because your best friend gives you space when you need it.
</p>
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<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/YZXFILE"> /u/YZXFILE </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/odabx6/why_is_girlfriend_one_word_but_best_friend_two/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/odabx6/why_is_girlfriend_one_word_but_best_friend_two/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
</ul>
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